Carrier-diverting device for carrier-dispatch systems



KQBENMZE CARRIER DIVERTING DEVICE FOR CARRIER DISPATGH SYSTEMS Filed[finch 8, 15 21 2 sheets fihaet l booooooo @00OOOOO Dec. 16 1924. 1519,993

A; KOENHG CARRIER DIVERTING DEVICE FOR CARRIER DISPATCH SYSTEMS "Fi ledMarch a, 1921 2 Shgets-Sheat 2 units stares AUGUST KOENIG, OF LOWELL,DIASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,

TO THE LAJVISON COM? MASSACHUSETTS,

M lt

ANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A GQRPOBATION 0F GABRIEB-DIVERTING DEVIGEFOB- CAREIEB-DISPATCH. SYSTEMS.

Application filed March 8, 1921. Serial No. 450,552.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, AUoUsT Konnio. a

citizen of the United States of America, and

resident of Lowell. in the county of Middle 5 sex and State ofMassachusetts, have invented new and useful Improve ments inCarrier-Diverting Devices for Carrier-Dispatch Systems, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to carrier dispatch systems, and moreparticularly to means useful in such systems for rlers, and especiallycarriers central station, from their normal diverting car arriving at acourse of movement. While the present invention is applicable to suchsystems embod1ment generally, the

selected for illustration herein has been designed with particularreference to its application to apparatus such as disclosed in thepatent to W hittier, No. 1,365,-

428. January 11. 1921.

The system of dealing with carriers and the devices illustrated in thesaid patent are highly effective under most circumstances for thepurpose intended and one object of the present invention is to increasethe flexib1l1ty. under certaln conditions of use, ot

the delivery of carriers from various sources to the various operatorsin such a system.

illustrative of such a condit noted, by reference that upon the cashiersside As 1011 it may be to the aforesaid patent of the central stationdesk, the carrier delivery chutes are so directed that those carriersarriving through the tubes at terminals directly 1n front of anyattendant another attendant to her right.

dinary circumstances this is under some conditions of u ample during aspecial sale in ment only of the store, that bank of incoming tubes dirof an attendant may be suddenly a very large number of carthe number ofcarriers arupon to deliver riers although will be delivered to Underordesirable, but se, as for exone departportion of the ectly in frontcalled riving at their other portions of the bank may be normal or lessthan normal. Under such circumstances it is manifestly desirable todistribute the abnormal flow of incoming carriers more widely than canbe done with the arrangement shown in the patent, wherein, althoughproper distribution may be made to any attendant to the right of thatpart of the bank of incoming tubes in which carriers are arriving ingreat 5 numbers, it is not provided to divert any of such carriers tothe attendant immediately in front of such tubes. Moreover, in any suchsystem if an attendant is temporarily absent from her place, it isdesirable to be 6 able to distribute her share of the work to others ather right or left, or in the entire absence of one attendant to deliverall of her share of the incoming carriers to the attendant to the left.if the nature of the business warrants such arrangement.

The principal object of the present lflVElltion is to facilitate andmake more flexible the distribution of necessary carriers to the variousattendants under circumstances, such for example as those above pointedout, or which may usually or occasionally arise in the course ofbusiness. Further objects of the invention are to provide suitable meanswhereby to aid in reaching the de sired results and more particularly.to provide manually actuable carrier-diverting means of simple anddurable type and such as may be readily operated without appreciableeffort or loss of time on the part of go the attendant.

Preferred means for attaining the above objects may comprise deliverychutes at an angle to the length of the central station desk, andcarrier diverting means at the en 5 trance of the chutes, together witha movable deflector adjacent the delivery end of the chute whereby atwill to cause the carriers to move to the right or left of the chute asthey emerge therefrom.

A preferred embodimentof means for carrying into effect the aboveobjects is disclosed in the accompanying drawings, in which,-

Figure l is a fragmentary plan view of the cashiers side of a centralstation desk, illustrating the devices of the present invention appliedthereto;

Figure 2 is a vertical cross section of that portion of the deskillustrated in Fig. 1;

Figure 3 is a cross section to enlarged scale, and taken. on a linesuch.- as 3-3 (Fig.

1) looking in the direction of the arrows, and illustrating one of thecarrier divert ing devices employed; and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary cross section to larger scale, taken on theline 44 of Fig. 2, and illustrating the means for retaining a carrierdiverting gate in adjusted position.

The central station apparatus shown is such as is disclosed in the saidpatent to lVhittier 1,365,428, January 11, 1921, above referred to. Inthe present drawings the incoming tubes are shown as having dividedterminal portions forming the series 1 1* for the delivery of carriersfor cash and charge authorization slips respectively. These tubespreferably terminate in momentum absorbing devices of usual form such asare shown at 3. Outgoing tubes 2 may be arranged in one or more banks atthe end of the series of incoming tubes as in the said patentedapparatus.

The carriers received in the respective tubes in series 1 are deliveredupon a longitudinally arranged endless belt 4. This belt 4 may bemounted upon rollers as 5 to one or more of which motion is imparted bymeans of a belt 6, driven by an electric or other motor 17 of anyordinary form. Preferably the belt 4 is arranged within a longitudinalchannel or chamber 8 formed by the opposite walls 9, 10, of thedesk-like structure upon the opposite sides of which the attendantsstations are disposed. As illustrated in Fig. 2, the desk structure uponthe cashiers side of the desk may comprise the shelf-like member 11supported as by means of the member 12, it being understood that agenerally similar shelf-like member extends upon the opposite side ofthe desk and is there similarly supported.

In Fig. 1 attendants stations are indicated at 13, 13 and in Fig. 2 asuitable foot rest 14 is indicated for the use of the attendants. Uponthe opposite side of the desk the terminals of the tubes 1 may delivertheir carriers upon a traveling belt such as 15 mounted upon rollers 16and which ma be driven in any suitable manner from the motor 17.

At points intermediate the several attendants stations, the wall 10 ofthe channel 8 is provided with openings such as 18 from which leadinclined preferably tapering chutes 20. The chutes 20 comprise sidewalls 21, 22, and a bottom wall 23. At the receiving end of such chutesthe wall 21 is curved outwardly through substantially a quadrant of areas indicated at 24, thus termlnatlng at 25 in a flange substantiallyparallel with the wall 10 to which it may be secured by screws or in anyother suitable manner. At the terminal end of the wall 22 is provided anoutstanding flange 26 whereby the chute may also be secured to the wall10. A bracket 27 is provided for supporting the lower end of the chute20 upon the desk member 11.

For diverting carriers from belt 4 into and for closing the openings atthe receiving ends of the chutes 20, at will, pivotally supported gatemembers 28 or 28 are pro- *ided. Each such gate member is pivoted as ata point 29 adjacent the end of the wall 22 of a chute. These gates asherein shown are provided with concave front walls 30 and convex rearwalls 31 and thus present smoothly curved surfaces for con tact with themoving carriers whether in open or closed position. Secured to thecurved portion of the wall. 21 is arranged a buffer member formed offelt or other suitable material for cushioning the impact of the freeedge of the gate member when the latter is brought to closed position.Av handle is fixedly secured to the gate men'iber 28 adjacent thepivotal edge thereof whereby the gate may readily be moved from open toclosed position by the operator without necessitating her arising fromher seat, and suitable. means are provided for holding the gate open orclosed.

The pivotal edge of the gate, for instance, is provided with asubstantially radial socket opening 35 in which is suitably mounted asleeve 36 the outer end of which is somewhat constricted as indicated at37. Such constricted end serves to retain a ball 38 seated within thesleeve and resting upon a coil spring 39 within the sleeve. Projectingrearwardly from the flange 26 of the chute is a boss 40 having securedthereto hardened wear-plate 41. This wear-plate presents" oppositelyinclined surfaces 42, 43, i for wiping engagement with the ball 38. Asthus arranged, the ball and spring in cooperation with the wear-plateserve as resilient means for holding the gate in'open or closedposition.

The chutes 2O deliver the carriers endon toward the edge board 50 of thedesk. The described construction adapts the chutes andtheir gates to beseparately assembled so that they may bemetallic structures adapted 1 5to be installed anywhere along a conveyor such as 4, by attaching theflanges 25 and" 26 to the conveyor trough. Mounted upon the desk top 11and in sub stantial alinement with each of the chutes 20 are carriercontrollers comprising the receiving members 44. The members 44 arepreferably formed of pressed metal oftruncated triangular form andprovided with suitable means such as the lugs 44.- for attaching them tothe desk. These receiving members comprise oppositely in-- clinedsurfaces 45, 46, with an interposed grooved surface 47, the latterforming an open trough or chute having a shallow channel arranged insubstantial alinement with the axis of the chute and having its bottomsubstantially horizontal. Pivotally secured to the oppo 'e ends of thesupport (is; are bracket port a plate this plate 533 having sockets inits opposite ends for the reception oi butl r memb s respe-- tively.From the inne surface of the pl and a. u-rent its edges extend i U51 I58, such fins upon their inner edges oeing provided"with cam sin'tacesas 59. A carrier moving endwise in groove 4. "forced laterally out Oilthe groove by one of these cam edges, and caused to roll down the slopeor the slope 4%, depending on the pesition of plate The pivotalarrangement of the plate 53 such that it may be swung in an are aboutthe pivotal point 51 of the brackets 52 and substantially about the axisof the channel in Fig. 3, the plate 53 has been shown in dotted lines at53 as having been swung to the right of the support.

As will be noted from inspection of Fig. 1, the several chutes 20 maydeliver the carriers endwise at substantially right angles to the pathof movement of the carriers traveling along upon the belt l. In theorderly operation of the device all carriers arriving through the tubes1 are deposited upon the belt and are thus moved to the right in asubstantially straight path extending longitud'nally or the cashiersdesk. It all of the gate members 28, 28 etc., cor responding toattendants stations 13, 13 are open as indicated at the right-hand sideoi Fin. 1, all carriers arriving through tubes 1 intermediate suchopened gates as 28, 28, for example will be diverted by the gate 28 intothe corresponding chute and will thus be delivered at the right-handside of the operator at the station 13. Similarly, carriers arrivingthrough tubes 1 to the left of the gate 28 and not diverted by openedgates further to the left thereof, will be caused to pass through thechute immediately to the right of the operator at station 13. If in suchcase no devices such as the controllers comprising the supports td wereplaced at the ends of the respective chutes the carriers would bedelivered promiscuously upon the upper surface of the desk at pointsimmediately to the right of each of the attendants but by the employmentof the controlling devices above described, it is possible to determineas to whether such carriers emerging from the ends of the chutes shallbe delivered. to operators to the right or left of the respectivechutes.

By positioning the member 53 in the full or dotted line positions, Fig.3, the arriving carriers from any chute will be caused to roll oil themember 44 to the right or the left respectively, and so come into reachin the order of their receipt, of the attendant at the right or at theleft oi? the chut an attendant leaving duty may thus at will, andwithout compulsion, arrange for deliv ering her share oi? the traffic tothe attendant at her left, or, by closing the gate deliver her share tothe attendant at her right.

By the provison of the controlling gates, as at 28, 28, together withthe directing devices placed at the delivery ends of the chutes, it ispossible to secure a very flexible control of the delivery of carriersto the various attendants, thus gr atly decreasing the probability ofcongestion at any attendtacilitating the Work of ants station and makingchange and the returning oi? the carriers to their starting point.

Having thus described the invention and the preferred embodiment of thesame, what I claim and desire to secure by United States Letters Patentof the United States is:

l. A. carrier dispatch central station coniprising means for conveyingcarriers in a stream extending in a substantially straight path, a chutearranged at an angle to said path, normally inoperative gate memberassociated with said chute and movable across said path whereby todivert carriers into said chute, and carrier controlling means at thedelivery end of the chute comprising a support for receiving a carrier,and manually adjustable means for rolling a carrier from said support inone or the other direction.

2. In combination in a central station for carrier dispatch systemshaving therein means for moving a plurality of carriers in alongitudinally extending stream, a discharge chute arran 'edsubstantially at right angles to the direction of said stream forreceiving and guiding carriers endwise therefrom, means for directingcarriers into the chute, and means associated with the terminal end ofsaid chute whereby to roll the carriers laterally to one or the otherside of the axis of such chute.

8. A carrier controller for use with the delivery chute of a carrierdispatch system comprising an open and substantially horizontal troughconstructed and arranged to form a substantial continuation of thebottom of the chute and alined therewith, said receiving trough having alaterally and downwardly inclined surface, and a deflector for laterallydeflecting acarrier moving along such receiving portion onto saidinclined surface, said deflector being pivoted to turn about on an axissubstantially parallel to that of the trough.

4. A carrier controller for use in carrier dispatch systems comprisingan open chute providing a shallow substantially horizontal channel toreceive a moving carrier, a surface extending laterally from said chute,

and means extending longitudinally of said chute for deflecting acarrier moving lengthwise of said channel. whereby to cause it todiverge from the channel and engage and roll over said surface.

5. A carrier controller for use in carrier dispatch systems comprisingan elongate open guideway providing a shallow channel, a surfaceextending downwardly and laterally from an edge of said channel, and cammeans for deflecting a carrier moving along said channel whereby tocause it to move down said surface.

6. A carrier controller having a carrier receiving portion comprising asurface with a shallow groove therein, surfaces extending laterally anddownwardly from opposite edges of said groove, and movable meansconstructed and arranged alternatively to deflect a carrier moving alongsaid groove into engagement with one or the other of said surfaces. Y

7. A carrier controller comprising a carrier receiving support having alongitudinal guideway, a plate mounted to swing in an arcuate path toeither side of said guideway, stop means for supporting said plate whenat either end of its path of movement,

and a longitudinally extending cam fin projecting from said plate andnormally lying substantially in a horizontal plane, and adapted to causea carrier moving in the guideway to be moved therefrom laterally.

8. In a carrier dispatch system in combination a carrier controllercomprising a carrier receiving support having oppositely and downwardlyinclined faces and a shallow groove for the carriers between theadjacent edges of said faces, and a cam-carrying member movable to oneside or the other of the axis of said groove.

Signed by me at Lowell Mass. this 4th day of March 1921.

AUGUST KOENIG.

